


Impressions by MJ

by 852_Prospect_Archivist



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Holiday: xmas, M/M, None - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 04:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/794112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/852_Prospect_Archivist/pseuds/852_Prospect_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It snows in Cascade and the boys enjoy it.<br/>This story is a sequel to no.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Impressions by MJ

**Author's Note:**

> The snow we got on Saturday made me think about being a kid again and inspired this story.

## Impressions

Anonymous Author

Author's disclaimer: They belong to Petfly. Got no money. I'll dry them off and put them back. Promise.

* * *

Jim rolled over, his ears seeking the heartbeat that kept him sane. 

There it was, but it was beating fast. He rose quickly and glanced over the railing down into the loft. Blair stood on the balcony, staring out over the city, framed in the early morning sun. Since there appeared to be no danger causing the elevated rhythm, Jim slipped into his robe and trotted down the steps. As he got to the bottom, a wave of cold air enveloped him. He could not believe Blair "it's too cold" Sandburg was voluntarily standing on the balcony on a winter's morning without his usual 3 layers of clothing. Just in his winter sleeping outfit: a heavy set of sweats. 

"Chief, we trying to heat the city this morning?" 

The young anthropologist turned and grinned at his roommate. "Hey Jim, look! It snowed!" 

"Unnhnn." Jim did not understand the excitement in Sandburg's voice. Hadn't he been grumbling about moving to the Arabian Desert just last evening? He stared over his roommate's shoulder and noted that the city was blanketed with a sparkling white. He judged it to be at least eight inches, more than they usually got this early in the season. Closing the balcony doors, "Come on, man. Get dressed. We have GOT to get out there." Blair was bouncing. Jim cringed. A bouncing Guide was a dangerous Guide. 

"I need my breakfast. This is Saturday. My off duty time. Read the paper. Drink some coffee and eat a nice slow breakfast. That is my agenda." Jim was a man who appreciated the quiet times. 

"Aw, man...we got to get out there now...before it gets all ruined." 

"Ruined?" now Blair was confusing him. 

"Yah. You know, the dirty gets mixed in the snow and it goes all... yucky." 

Jim rumbled a quiet laugh. "Yucky...that the technical name for it?" 

Blair blinked at the bigger man. Full professor mode on line. "No. Detritus-contaminated crystallized precipitation is the technical term but I know how you cops prefer the street name for stuff. Simple. Euphonic. That means with a pleasing sound. Yukky." 

Jim realized he was being teased back. And that he was going to do whatever Sandburg wanted to do. "Right. So, now?" 

A big grin that went right into Jim. "Yah. Now. Let's get dressed." Blair darted around Jim and headed for his own bedroom at a run. 

* * *

>Twenty minutes and a glass of orange juice later ("I am not going out  
without having something, Sandburg."), the partners arrived at Mayo-Balser  
Park. Blair was out of the truck almost before it  
stopped moving.

"Oh, man, look at this stuff. This is way cool!" He danced across parking lot, twirled back to grin at Jim and round to stare at the snow-laden trees and back to Jim again. 

"Come on, man. Let's go over there." 

He pointed to the large flat area just where the park sloped down to the bay. With a yip of delight, he was off, racing as fast as he could through the snow. The overnight fall had drifted here in the park on the winds from the open area of the bay and was over a foot deep. 

"Yes! Yes! This will be the perfect spot." Blair's joyful enthusiasm drew a broad smile from the stoic detective and he hurried to see what the younger man was intending. Blair had disappeared over a low rise. 

As he crested the rise, Jim's heart contracted. Blair was laying on his back in the snow, arms and legs spread wide. "Chief, Chief, you OK?" 

"It's just perfect, man. Deep enough and moist enough to hold the pattern." He began to sweep his arms and legs back and forth. 

Jim stood staring dumbfounded. "What are you doing?" 

"Making a snow angel!" 

"A what?" 

"Snow angel. See, my legs are making the robe and my arms the wings. Great, hnn?" Blair's face was alight with the joy of this childish creation. 

Jim blinked and stood staring. This was the man who hated cold and damp, now voluntarily laying in a foot of snow getting cold and damp? 

"Come on, Jim. Get with the program. Make an angel. Just pick a spot." He leapt up and away from the image he had made. "See, isn't it great?" 

Jim stared. The marks in the snow did look sort of like an angel. 

Blair bounced by his side. "This is so cool. Haven't done this is so long. Most winters I didn't get to. Naomi always seemed to pick places where there was no snow. And the last few years here in Cascade, hasn't been enough of the right kind of snow. Either too slushy or too little." He suddenly seemed to realize that Jim had been quiet for some time. "Hey, man, your turn. How long since you made a snow angel?" 

Jim mumbled, "Never have." 

"What?" 

"My father did not approve of such things and my mother had to be careful in the winter..." his voice trailed off. He wondered why he had revealed that. 

Blair touched his arm gently. "Sorry man, didn't know." He stood quietly for a minute and then smiled that sweet smile that could shatter Jim's heart. "So, time you made one, hnn?" 

"Yah." A soft responding smile curved Ellison's mouth. 

"I'll show you how." The young man moved away and stood arms wide. "You find a nice deep spot and just..." he fell backwards, " let yourself go. Then wave your arms and legs like this." He demonstrated. 

"I think I have the idea," dryly. Jim thought for a moment and then, fell sideways, knees and arms close to his body. Back arched up, he extended his arms with his fingers spread out, pressing deeply into the snow. Then, his legs, toes digging in. After a moment he realized he needed some help. "Chief, come here if you are finished over there." 

"Yah, Jim. Hey, not like that. On your back." 

Jim's thoughts grew randy for a second. Deep breath "No. I am exactly the way I want. Give me your scarf." 

"My scarf? What for?" The Guide was wary of the Sentinel. 

"Don't argue. Just pass it over. And watch where you step. Don't mess up my work here." 

Reluctantly, Blair pulled the woollen scarf from his neck and threw it to Jim. The detective rolled the scarf into a long tube and then, carefully reaching behind, lay it into the snow in a long sinuous curve out from his lower back. 

"Hey, you are getting it all snowy!" 

"That is what happens when you push things, like this," he shoved the scarf firmly down into the snow, "in the snow." 

"Aw, Jimmm." It was Sandburg's whinny voice, one that Jim usually hated to hear but right now, he was enjoying it. 

"Now, give me a hand up. Wouldn't want to have to do this again." He reached up toward the pouting anthropologist. 

In spite of his distress over his dampened scarf, Blair grabbed Jim's hand and with a 'one, two, three', yanked him to his feet. 

Jim stepped carefully out of his handiwork, glanced at it and expressed his satisfaction with a short 'hmm'. Handing the now very damp scarf back to his roommate with a 'thanks', he walked away, leaving a puzzled Guide staring down at the image. 

"Hey, what's it supposed to be?" 

"Where are your shamanic skills? That is obvious." He did not turn to speak but kept on walking. "A panther. No, a leopard." A few more steps. "A snow leopard." 

No words from Blair but Jim could hear a sharp intake of breath and the sound of rushing feet. Before he could react, a hand shoved snow down the neck of his jacket. 

"Yow!" Digging to get the icy mass out , he whirled to a grinning Blair. "This means war, Sandburg." 

"Only if you catch me!" and with that Blair was off trying to run through the clinging snow. He headed under the tall blue spruce that lined the crest of the hill. The snow was lower there but he slipped just as he made the shelter of the tall trees. Jim grabbed him and swung him round. He pushed him nearer the trees and holding him in an iron grip, smiled a deeply evil smile. He glanced up to the snow-laden branches of the tree. 

Blair saw where his partner was looking and begged, "No, Jim, please, not that." 

"No quarter asked. None given." He yanked Blair's wool cap from his head and jerked a branch above their heads. As the snow cascaded down on his hapless victim, he stepped back quickly. 

A slim snowman stood before him, piles of snow on his head and shoulders. Lumps of snow sticking to his wool coat and in his hair. Blair shook his head but dislodged only some of the snow. His hair was very wet, laying in long damp curls around a face rosy from the exercise in the cool air. He was adorable. It took all Jim's willpower not to pull the young man into his arms and kiss him warm. 

"Damp and snowy is my world," the plaintive voice commented. 

Jim had pity. "Come on, Chief. Let's get you home and warmed up." He refused to think about all the ways he wanted to do that. He swiped at the snow down Blair's chest and picked at the lumps in his hair. "I'll even make you waffles." 

"Blueberry ones?" The voice was on maximum pathetic. Jim recognized that the kid was milking this for all he could get. 

"Yes, blueberry. But remember next time. The snow leopard always gets his prey. My little snow guppy." 

Blair burst out laughing and Jim joined him. 

He threw his arm around Blair's shoulders and wondered, as they headed back to the truck, if he ever would be able to tell Blair how he felt. It was his secret Christmas wish. 


End file.
